Protective Covering

ABSTRACT

An article of clothing that protects a baby&#39;s clothing, diaper or bare skin from dirt, stains, wetness and general wear and tear by providing a protective covering between the child and a surface; the protective covering comprising a backless pant, possibly having a waterproof layer, adjustable waist and ankle straps and a releasable seam along one side to facilitate the removing or placing of the protective clothing.

BACKGROUND

As many parents know, until children are in the toddler stage, the first12-24 months of a child's life is spent on or close to the ground whennot held by the parent or placed in some variation of a baby carrier.From the initial sitting up stage to the steady walking stage, a fairamount of time is spent on a baby's knees and bottom. While a child'shands can be washed fairly easily with baby wipes or water, once theirclothing has become soiled, the only real option for the parents is tochange the child's clothing. This can be time consuming for the parentsand can be a stressful event when strong willed children are involved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages will now be described withreference to drawings of certain embodiments, which are intended toillustrate and not to limit the present protective covering:

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the protective covering withan ankle and a waist straps attached;

FIG. 2 is a back view of one embodiment of the protective covering;

FIG. 3 is a view of one embodiment of the protective covering showing aside opening unattached;

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The instant application describes, among other things, a protectivecovering that may protect the knees and buttocks of underlying clothingor bare skin of a child from dirt, stains or wetness. Dirt, stains andwetness are often concentrated in two main areas: knees and buttocks.Crawling by default places knees on a crawling surface which may resultin dirt, stains or wetness on a child's clothing, diaper or bare skin. Asitting position may also result in dirt, stains or wetness on a child'sclothing or bare skin.

A protective covering may provide a layer between a child's clothing anda surface that allows for easy clean up from dirt, stains or wetnessthat a child may get from crawling or sitting on the ground. With aprotective covering, the child can be dressed in clean clothes and thenif the child goes outside or to a potentially messy environment, theprotective covering may be put over the child's clothing to keep theclean clothes from dirt, stains or wetness that could end up on theclothing or child's knees and bottom. Once the child is brought back toa clean environment, the protective covering may easily be removed andthe original clothing may remain clean.

In one embodiment, a protective covering will attach at the waist withan adjustable elastic fastener opening up to a backless pant and thenattached again at ankles with adjustable elastic tabs. The protectivecovering will be made of flexible, waterproof materials that will allowfor easy wipe down of dirt and grime from the protective covering. Inanother embodiment the protective covering will have a hook and loopclosure system along one side of the protective covering that wouldallow easier dressing and undressing of the child. In yet anotherembodiment, the protective covering will have reinforced knees andbottoms to provide an added layer of cushioning to the child whencrawling or sitting on hard or uneven surfaces. In yet anotherembodiment the protective covering will have a flap with a fastener thatattaches from the backside of a rear trunk region to a front trunkregion between a crotch to allow for diaper changes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The instant application describes, among other things, a protectivecovering that may protect the knees and buttock of underlying clothingor bare skin of child from dirt, stains or wetness. Dirt, stains andwetness are often concentrated in two main areas: knees and buttocks.Crawling by default places knees on a crawling surface which may resultin dirt, stains or wetness on a child's clothing or bare skin. A sittingposition may also result in dirt, stains or wetness on a child'sclothing, diaper or bare skin.

A protective covering may provide a layer between a child's clothing,diaper or bare skin and a surface that allows for easy clean up fromdirt, stains or wetness that a child may get from crawling or sitting onthe surface. With a protective covering the child may be dressed inclean clothes and then if the child goes outside or to a potentiallymessy environment, the protective covering may be worn over the child'sclothing to keep the clean clothes from dirt, stains or wetness thatcould end up on the child's knees and bottom. Alternatively, theprotective covering may be put over a child's bare skin, withoutunderlying clothing, to keep the skin clean from dirt, stains or wetnessthat could end up on the child's knees, buttocks or diaper. Once thechild is brought back to a clean environment, the protective coveringmay easily be removed and the original clothing or skin may remainclean.

In one embodiment, a protective covering will attach at a waist with anadjustable elastic fastener opening up to a backless pant and thenattached again at one or more ankles with adjustable elastic tabs. Theprotective covering will be made of flexible, waterproof materials thatwill allow for easy wipe down of dirt and grime from the protectivecovering. In another embodiment the protective covering will have a hookand loop closure system along a side of the protective covering thatwould allow easier dressing and undressing of the child. In yet anotherembodiment, the protective covering will have reinforced knees andbottoms to provide an added layer of cushioning to the child whencrawling or sitting on hard or uneven surfaces. In yet anotherembodiment the protective covering will have flap with a fastener thatattaches from a backside of the rear trunk region to a front trunkregion between a crotch to allow for diaper changes.

A protective covering may cover a child's buttock and front half of legsfrom the trunk body down to ankles. The protective covering may provideprotection from a surface on one or more areas on the child which comesin contact with the ground, for example the knees and buttocks. Theprotective coverings may be used for either gender and may be used toprotect various clothing styles including but not limited to pants,dresses, shorts, diapers or bare skin.

FIG. 1 shows an example of one embodiment of a protective covering (100)that provides a layer between a child's clothing or bare skin and asurface. The protective covering (100) may help keep a child's clothingor bare skin clean from dirt, stains or wetness.

In order to help keep a child's clothing or bare skin clean from dirt,stains or wetness, the protective covering (100) may be made ofimpermeable waterproof materials and have a waist opening (120) and twoankle openings (130). The waist opening (120) of the protective covering(100) may be comprised of elastic material (150). The ankle openings(130) of the protective covering (100) may also be comprised of elasticmaterial (155). Having elastic material (150) at the waist opening (120)may allow the protective covering (100) to stay in the waist position ona child without sliding too high up or down the torso. Similarly, havingthe ankle openings (130) comprised of elastic material (155) may preventthe protective covering (100) from slipping off the child's foot orsliding too high up the child's leg.

As shown in FIG. 1, the waist opening (120) is comprised of anadjustable waist strap (125) that could allow for varying sizes ofchildren and for growth of a child. The adjustable waist strap (125) mayuse various fastening devices which may include, by way of example andnot limitation, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, or snaps.

Similarly in FIG. 1, the ankle opening (130) is comprised of anadjustable ankle strap (135) that could allow for varying sizes ofchildren and for growth of a child. The adjustable ankle strap (135) mayuse various fastening devices which may include, by way of example andnot limitation, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, or snaps.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protective covering (100) has a front trunkportion (105) that is attached to two leg portions (106). The legportions (106) cover at least the front and part of the sides of thelegs. The leg portions (106) may either be connected with the fronttrunk portion (105) as one continuous piece of material or it may beconnected with a non-releasable seam (195) opposite a leg opening (138).

The protective covering (100) in FIG. 1 has a flap portion (170) thatconnects a front trunk (105) to a rear trunk (140) at a crotch (110)using a fastening device (180) which may include, by way of example andnot limitation, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, or snaps. The flapportion (170) would allow a child's diaper to be changed withoutremoving the protective covering (100).

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 1, the protective covering (100) may alsohave padded material (160) added to the leg portion (106) in an area ofone or more knees. The padded material (160) may provide extracushioning to the child's knees as well as provide reinforcement to theareas that have higher proportion of contact with the surface areas. Thepadded material (160) may be comprised, by way of example and notlimitation, of corduroy, denim, leather or canvas.

In FIG. 1, the protective covering (100) may have a releasable seam(190) from the waist opening (120) to the leg opening (138). Thereleasable seam (190) may be comprised, by way of example and notlimitation, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, or snaps. The releasableseam (190) may provide an easier means of removing or placing theprotective covering (100) on a child.

FIG. 2, shows an example of the back view of one embodiment of theprotective covering (100). The rear trunk (140) comprises a buttockregion from the waist opening (120) to the leg openings (138) andincludes a flap portion (170) that connects to the front trunk (105) atthe crotch (110).

The protective covering (100) in FIG. 2 has a flap portion (170) thatconnects the front trunk (105) to the rear trunk (140) at the crotch(110) using a fastening device (180) which may include, by way ofexample and not limitation, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, or snaps.The flap portion (170) would allow a parent to change a child's diaperwithout removing the protective covering (100).

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 2, the protective covering (100) may alsohave padded material (165) added to the rear trunk portion (140) in thearea of the buttocks. The padded material (165) would provide extracushioning to the child's buttocks as well as provide reinforcement tothe areas that have higher proportion of contact with the surface areas.The padded material (165) may be comprised, by way of example and notlimitation, of corduroy, denim, leather or canvas.

FIG. 3 shows an example of one embodiment of the protective covering(100) with the releasable seam (190) unfastened. As shown in FIG. 3, therear trunk (140) has a flap portion (170) that when unfastened wouldhang behind and between the child's legs.

1. A protective covering comprising: at least a front and part of atleast one side of a backless pant leg; a trunk body comprising: a fronttrunk region having left and right edges; a rear trunk regioncorresponding to said front trunk region having left and right edgeswherein the left edge of the rear trunk is attached to the left edge ofthe front trunk region forming a left edge of the trunk body and theright edge of the rear trunk is attached to the right edge of the fronttrunk region forming a right edge of the trunk body; a crotch regionextending between said front trunk region and rear trunk region; awaist-opening at an upper part of said trunk body; a pair ofleg-openings at a lower part of said trunk body, the pant leg attachedat the leg openings.
 2. The protective covering of claim 1 wherein thepant leg comprises elastic material around at least part of the legopening.
 3. The protective covering of claim 1 wherein the trunk bodycomprises elastic material around at least part of the waist opening. 4.The protective covering of claim 1 wherein the pant leg comprisesadjustable leg straps around at least part of the leg opening.
 5. Theprotective covering of claim 1 wherein the trunk body comprisesadjustable waist straps around at least part of the waist opening. 6.The protective covering of claim 1, wherein the protective covering ismade of a material impermeable to water.
 7. The protective covering ofclaim 1, wherein the at least the front and part of the sides of a pantleg comprising a knee, said knee and buttock of rear trunk region havepadded material.
 8. The protective covering of claim 1 comprising a flapportion for enclosing the crotch region fastening between the pair ofleg-openings.
 9. The flap portion of claim 8 comprising a hook and loopfastener.
 10. The flap portion of claim 8 comprising a snap fastener.11. The flap portion of claim 8 comprising a button fastener.
 12. Theprotective covering of claim 1 wherein at least one of the left edge orthe right edge of the trunk body comprises a releasable seam.
 13. Thereleasable seam of claim 12 comprising a hook and loop fastener.
 14. Thereleasable seam of claim 12 comprising snap fasteners.
 15. Thereleasable seam of claim 12 comprising button fasteners.